Thursday, May 26, 2011

Documentaries

CoC Page 13: Here!

This past weekend was MeCaf, which involved me hanging out on a lovely Sunday afternoon with the CCS crew right next to the waters of Portland Maine. I'd forgotten how much I'd missed the ocean and I hope that if I make it home to LA for a little while I'll get to spend some time at the beach.

So, anyway, one thing that got me through thesis was watching hours upon hours of documentaries either through Netflix or through other film archive sites. There was a period of time for a good month or so that I averaged about three a day. That's just documentaries, that doesn't include all the other films, shows, wrestling matches, whatever I've watched during that time.

I figured I might as well make a few recommendations:

Beyond the Mat - I've watched a few wrestling documentaries in the past month and this one blows them all away. It's not just a great wrestling documentary, it's a fantastic documentary by itself and hell, an overall satisfying watching in general. This film tore at my soul and I admit that there were parts of it that were so tragic I nearly had to stop. So yeah, it's not necessarily a feel-good movie but it's brilliantly honest and done with an earnest respect for those involved.

Theremin: An Electronic Odyssey - Not just a history of the instrument, but a real look into the life of the man who began the history of electronic music. It also really explores how the theremin came to primarily serve as that creepy sound in the background of all those movies.

Harlan Ellison: Dreams with Sharp Teeth - Definitely a must watch for sci-fi literature fans, but also a very insightful movie about what it means to be a writer. I also admit to having a bias because of the way Harlan Ellison talks about L.A. since it tends to get such a bad rap and I've never heard anyone better express how I feel about it better than him. When you think he's coming off as bitter, there's usually something more to it than first glance. If you're interested in how one of the great writers of past generations approaches the process you should give this movie a watch.

There are tons more and I'll probably make more recommendations later on but these are a good place to start. What tends to attract me are strange cultural documentaries so those will probably be the bulk of what I suggest here.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

And Now the Hard Part

City of Cards Page 12: Here!

I've graduated! Officially! Check out Josh Kramer's awesome Summer Showcase for more details on all the events. There were bagpipes, dance numbers, amazing speeches and emotional rollercoasters abound. Aaron Renier made our amazing diploma. Totally worth a look.

But what all this really means is it's time for me to get organized and get back into the real world. Well, at least get back into it enough so that I can keep myself in food and shelter enough to make comics.

Chapter three is almost completely thumbnailed. There's no stopping this train! Random sketch of the week is Ace and Plato at the zoo looking at a fat platypus. A fatypus if you will.


Yeah.

Thursday, May 12, 2011

Page 11 and Thesis Review

Page 11 up HERE.

Thesis review was today so today's update will be a short one. All the critiques they gave me were valuable and definitely confirmed what I'd known already for the most part. With that said, I'm always in this place of "do I go back and fix things now or do I wait till later to fix them?" when it comes to my pages.

I've learned a lot in this past while and even from chapter one to chapter two I know I've been able to loosen up and begin to finally get my work to look somewhere near where I want it to be. I think, now, having the benefit of what I've learned combined with a little more time freedom I really want to do more concept art and world building. The more environments I can really sink my teeth into and design the more fleshed out my city will be for my reader.

So, aside from thumbnailing Chapter Three and starting to ink Chapter Two, my main goal is going to be going through and making sure that any environment that I didn't get the time to or I didn't give myself the time to fit my characters into is given an equal level of attention.

So yeah, I'll probably be uploading pages that I'm not 100% currently happy with at the moment while I spend time reworking them. That's just how it's going to be because I want to keep the story moving. I know that there's still a lot for me to learn and that as I work my art will develop and that's just what happens. It also means that say a couple of months down the line I might re-update older pages with new art. I don't want this to take up too much time as I expect in a few years to need to update the whol project, but I want my best work to be online and this is how I work best.

On a final note, I love you guys more than you know. The Center for Cartoon Studies is a beautiful institution and the work they do here is so valuable to the promotion of comics as art and I know with total certainty that forgetting anything I have ever done or will do that the works of my classmates and the alumni of this school will have a major impact on the art form. It's truly history being made here.

Most likely sketches and other stuff up next week 'cause it's graduation time!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

CCS Thesis: Over!

Page 10 uploaded: Here!

Also, a classmate of mine, Josh Kramer, is putting together this awesome blog collection to showcase our thesis work. Check it out!

As of posting this blog my thesis has officially been turned in and I have attended my final class here at the Center for Cartoon Studies. I'm at a bit of a loss and I don't think it's really hit home just yet. In fact, I don't know if it ever really well. My time here has been beyond amazing and while I know there are many great comics still to make and that the friendships I've made here don't have to end just because we're parting ways it's still hard.

I mean this with all sincerity that this has been the best two years of my life. I thank so many people for this.


First, here is the blue version of the CoC cover which will be the cover for volume 2:


Next up is the final two luchadore images since I skipped last week. It's the Ace of Clubs and Ace of Diamonds:



I've got a lot of work to keep on doing and I'm glad for that. I don't know exactly where I'm going to end up right now, but I like to hope the future is bright. And to sum it up, here's a soothing video of a fat cat on a water treadmill. Make sure sound is on.